Patricia Clarkson shines in lovely 'Cairo Time'

Canadian writer-director Ruba Nadda's artful drama "Cairo Time" is one of those movies that functions on a number of levels. It's a stunningly shot love letter to the Egyptian capital. It's a simple, unadorned love story about one woman's journey of self-discovery.

Alexander Siddig and Patricia Clarkson, in an image from 'Cairo Time.'

Perhaps more than anything, though, it's a lovely showcase for Patricia Clarkson's prodigious talent, and yet another reminder of why New Orleans' biggest native movie star also happens to be one of the finest actresses in Hollywood.

Clarkson not only anchors Nadda's film, but she lifts it up onto her shoulders, carrying it along and helping it become an emotional and thoughtful story of one woman's journey of self-discovery. In other words, "Cairo Time" is what "Eat Pray Love" could have been earlier this summer.

Rather than a self-pitying Julia Roberts, however, we get Clarkson, playing a star-crossed lover named Juliette, on her way to meet her U.N.-worker husband in Cairo. When she gets there, though, she learns he has been delayed.

No problem, she thinks. She'll just fly solo for a few days through the Egyptian marketplaces and coffee shops, soaking up the sun and the atmosphere and the ancient charms. It doesn't take her long to realize, however, that adjusting to Cairo time is about more than re-setting her watch. In addition to getting used to the city's easy, life-loving pace, the wealth of cultural differences throw her for a loop.

Enter Alexander Siddig ("Clash of the Titans, " "The Kingdom"), playing Tareq, a former employee of Juliette's husband. He's a picture of Middle Eastern elegance -- tall and kind and patient -- and he agrees to be Juliette's guide and protector.

"So what are we going to do?" Tareq asks as they set out.

"Explore, "she responds.

And explore she does: the desert, the Nile, the marketplaces. And other places, too -- more emotional places.

The trick for Clarkson, though, is that her Juliette is achingly reserved, exploring a whole new world of emotion but terrified of what she's discovering there. And so Clarkson must impart a range of conflicted feelings with little more than a look here, an exhaled breath there. They are whispers of emotions more than actual emotion, but Clarkson magnificently allows them to bubble up and break the surface.

Rarely is an actress asked to do so much with so little -- and even rarer does that actress succeed as well as Clarkson does. But that's the kind of actress she is. She can do more with a raised eyebrow or a sly smile than most people could ever hope to do.

Along the way, Nadda exhibits an obvious affection for Cairo in her beautifully shot film, from the hustle and bustle of the marketplaces to the richness of the architecture to the majesty of the desert-set antiquities. Resisting the urge to rush her story along, Nadda relies on lingering, loving tracking shots, accompanied by a lacy, piano-heavy score to steep her film in Egyptian atmosphere.

There are moments when it all feels a dash too lingering, as if Nadda's film is living more for atmosphere than for story arc, an arrangement of priorities that threatens to slow her story to a screeching halt on occasion.

And then the beautiful, disarming final 15 minutes come along, and -- with help from both Clarkson and Siddig -- make the whole journey worthwhile.

Note: Clarkson will be in attendance tonight (Sept. 10) at the Prytania Theatre, participating in a Q-and-A after the 7:30 showing of "Cairo Time," and introducing the 9:45 showing. For details, visit the Prytania website.

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CAIRO TIME3 stars, out of 4

Snapshot: A drama about a married woman who, while visiting Cairo, develops a relationship with a former employee of her absent husband.